Democrats can now launch process to invoke never before used rule that could remove Trump from the White House

Donald Trump has suffered a major political defeat, and the consequences could reach far beyond the results of the midterm elections.

Democrats have won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, delivering a stunning setback to Republicans and giving the opposition party control of Congress for the first time during Trump’s current term.

The Associated Press reports that Democrats scored victories across the country, including in traditionally Republican states that Trump won comfortably just two years ago.

The result gives Democrats significantly more power to challenge the president’s agenda during the final two years of his term.

Party leaders have already indicated that investigations into the administration and closer scrutiny of Trump’s actions will be among their priorities. Impeachment has not been ruled out either.

For almost 60 years, a provision in the U.S. Constitution has allowed Congress to establish an independent commission that could help determine whether a sitting president is mentally and physically capable of carrying out the responsibilities of the office.

It has never been put into practice.

And with Democrats now preparing to take control of both chambers, attention could once again turn to a proposal that has been discussed in Washington before.

The 59-year-old constitutional provision

The provision is found in Section 4 of the 25th Amendment, which was ratified in 1967.

Most Americans associate the amendment with the transfer of presidential power when a president dies, resigns, or temporarily becomes unable to serve.

But Section 4 addresses a different situation: what happens when a president is still alive and in office but is considered unable to perform his duties.

The amendment allows the vice president, together with a majority of the principal officers of the executive departments, to declare that the president is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office.

There is also an alternative written into the Constitution.

It allows Congress to establish another body through legislation that could take the place of those principal officers in the process.

That means lawmakers could create an independent commission, separate from the president’s Cabinet, to assess presidential capacity.

If the vice president and the required majority of that commission agreed that the president could no longer fulfill his responsibilities, the vice president would immediately assume the role of acting president.

It would be an extraordinary constitutional step, and one that Congress has never taken.

Nancy Pelosi and Jamie Raskin already tried to make it happen

This idea has actually been explored before.

In 2020, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin introduced legislation called the Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of Office Act.

The proposal called for a permanent, 17-member commission consisting of medical professionals and former senior government officials.

Its membership would include physicians, former presidents, former vice presidents, and former secretaries of state, with congressional leaders from both parties involved in selecting its members.

The commission would have been able to examine a sitting president’s physical and mental capacity and report its conclusions.

However, the legislation never made it through Congress.

Republicans controlled the Senate at the time, and the proposal stalled without receiving a vote.

Raskin is still a member of Congress, and the original legislative effort could provide a starting point if Democrats decide to revisit the issue.

Democrats now have something they didn’t have in 2020

The political situation has changed dramatically.

According to the Associated Press, Democrats have won both chambers of Congress in the November 2026 midterms, flipping seats in states that have traditionally been Republican strongholds.

Among the notable victories were Democratic Senate wins in Texas, South Carolina, Kansas and Iowa.

The results represent a major rejection of Trump’s political agenda, with voters expressing frustration over high prices, inflation, the war in Iran and concerns about government corruption.

The victories also put Hakeem Jeffries in line to become the next House speaker.

Democratic leaders have indicated that they intend to use their new congressional majority for investigations and more aggressive oversight of the Trump administration.

The new Congress is scheduled to take office on January 3, 2027.

That is when Democrats will formally gain control of both chambers and could begin considering legislation such as the commission proposed six years ago.

What would happen if the commission actually made a declaration?

Creating the commission would not automatically remove Trump from office.

Under Section 4, the vice president would still have to participate in the declaration alongside the required majority of the commission.

If that happened, JD Vance would immediately become acting president.

Trump would, however, have the right to challenge the declaration and state that he remains capable of serving.

If he did, Congress would have to decide the issue………………..CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE